Dear Members of the New York City Council,
This is an expansion of my spoken statement at the SoHo NoHo Rezoning Land Use Zoom hearing on Tuesday, November 9, 2021; I have added sourced links and more detail for your perusal and consideration.
My name is Connie Murray: as a former resident of SoHo and a native New Yorker, I oppose the city's proposed rezoning for SoHo NoHo because while the Department of City Planning cannot guarantee that even one unit of affordable housing will be created, it can guarantee that almost 200 historic buildings will be on the chopping block, displacing over 1000 low-income residents and eliminating their already existing deeply affordable homes.
I ask you as our elected city officials to find any logic in killing truly affordable housing only to replace it with scammy MIH unaffordable homes. As well, there is nothing “green” or “sustainable” about demolishing hundreds of buildings and turning SoHo into a massive construction site all in the name of fake social justice and alleged racial equity, which is obvious false narrative Yimby propaganda.
Because the only proponents of this unpopular proposal, as demonstrated once again at Tuesday’s 8-hour hearing, are the Yimby zealots from real estate development lobbying group Open New York, the same group who had notoriously and deliberately slandered elderly area residents as being members of the Ku Klux Klan for having simply shown up to try and fight to be able to stay in their own homes. Open New York incorporated as a “nonprofit” almost 2 years ago but the organization has yet to file a 990 form. Its founder, real estate developer and steel heir Ben Carlos Thypin, who is currently the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit, joked about turning SoHo into Dresden and Open New York member Spencer Heckwolf infamously physically threatened seniors at not just one but two Manhattan Community Board 2 meetings.
Like the Department of City Planning, real estate development opportunists Open New York knows all too well that no affordable housing will be created by this rezoning, only deep tax abatements for the greedy real estate developers for whom they work.
Please, New York City Council, vote no on this gratuitous and harmful developer giveaway.
